While I love finding interesting, rare, and unusual plants sometimes it’s fun to take a closer look at some of the common weeds that grow in urban areas. The walkway around the Courtenay Airpark is a place where introduced species are common. I’ve found a cosmopolitan collection of Eurasian plants, garden escapees and invasives along the edges of the pathway. One of these introduced weeds is field mustard.

Field Mustard

This morning, the bright yellow flowers of Field Mustard (Brassica campestris) attracted my attention. This introduced weed hails from Eurasia and grows in waste areas, disturbed soil, and abandoned lots. It is fairly widespread.

Mustards (Brassicaceae) include plants like turnips, rapeseed, radishes, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, and kale. The flowers of this family are radially symmetrical and have 4 petals, 4 sepals, and 6 stamens. Most produce long pod-like fruits called siliques (longer) or silicles (shorter).

Field Mustard has pale yellow flowers that grow in a small terminal cluster and from the leaf axils. The stem leaves are alternate with basal lobes and eventually become clasping further up the stem. The basal leaves are lyrate. This means that they are deeply divided with opposite paired lobes and a single lobe at the end of the leaf.

Taking a closer look at this plant reveals that even weeds can be beautiful. I’ve also noticed that the kale (also in Brassicacea) that overwintered in our garden is starting to come into flower as well so I’ll make an effort to get some photographs of its flowers and leaves for comparison. Once you discover the beauty of this plant, you won’t want to pass it up!